15 CrossFit Workouts You Can Do at Home — Gym Not Required

WOD, AMRAP, and SYLB — these are just a few examples of the workout lingo you’ll hear tossed around a CrossFit gym. But if you can’t get to a gym (or you just really don’t want to), you can still do a variety of CrossFit workouts at home.

At a glance, CrossFit seems to involve a lot of weights, a lot of reps, and a lot of yelling, but we promise that it can totally be done at home (with or without the yelling — your choice!). With the help of CrossFit trainers Mike McNichol and Deidre Bloomquist, we’ve compiled a list of exercises you can do any time, any place.

To make things simple, most of these exercises can be done with just your body weight. If you’d like to bump up the intensity, add some dumbbells or kettlebells. Don’t have any weights? Try household objects like:

CrossFit workouts are based on functional movements similar to what you do in everyday life.

“The CrossFit methodology provides the opportunity for people of all abilities pursuing health or fitness to complete these workouts,” says McNichol. “This means the high school athlete and their grandmother could do a similar workout, and both would benefit.”

Studies have shown that CrossFit exercises can improve VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen your body uses during intense exercise), strength, and endurance and may improve body composition. Having a healthy body composition essentially means having more muscle than fat.

So yes, that means CrossFit could get you one step closer to those Michelle Obama arms, and you don’t even have to leave your house (you do have to get off the couch, though).

Here are 15 different routines you can try at home.

21-15-9

How-to: Complete 21 burpees and 21 thrusters, and then take a short break. Thrusters combine a front squat and an overhead press, and burpees involve jumping up and then getting down into a plank position over and over.

In the second round, do 15 reps of each movement. Take another break before doing the final round of 9 reps of each movement.

AMRAP 20 minutes

Do as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) of the following in 20 minutes (if you need to rest, rest for only 1 minute at a time):

20 walking lunges

15 push-ups

30-second plank

How-to: Be prepared for Jell-O legs and laughing pains for a week!

With walking lunges, you’ll take a controlled step forward after each lunge, making sure to alternate legs. You can do push-ups on the floor or on furniture. These moves target your lower body, core, and upper body.

McNichol mentions that when planks are done correctly, you’ll definitely notice the benefits! Be sure to keep your spine in a neutral position, your core tight, and your hips lifted.

Time it takes: Complete as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes.

Workout equipment needed: If the bodyweight burn isn’t enough, you can hold dumbbells at your sides during the walking lunges.

Workout equipment alternatives: Canned goods or bags of rice (something you can easily hold in both hands)

How-to: Deadlifts are going to make that booty burn, and the row and press target your upper body.

Deadlifts consist of pulling a weighted barbell from the floor, raising your hips and shoulders at the same rate. The end result should be a full hip and knee extension.

For a strict press or overhead press, hold a barbell or dumbbells at shoulder level while standing with your knees slightly bent. Then push the weight up over your head.

Your back will feel it when you’re doing the bent-over rows! Stand with your knees slightly bent, holding a weight in each hand. Lean forward while keeping a flat back. Extend arms straight, and then lift the weights straight up to chest level, squeezing shoulder blades together as you do.

Note from McNichol: For movements like the strict press and row, you can complete the reps with one arm at a time instead of both.

Time it takes: 20–30 minutes

Workout equipment needed: Dumbbells or barbell

Workout equipment alternatives: If you don’t have dumbbells or a barbell, you can use a broom. Any weighted object you feel comfortable lifting over your head can also work: laundry detergent bottles, books, your cat (j/k).

5 rounds for time

How-to: Complete regular sit-ups followed by double-unders (jump-roping with the rope going under twice) or classic jump rope and then air squats, which involve pretending to sit down in an invisible chair.

Your endurance and lower/upper body strength will improve with this workout.

Time it takes: “For time” means take as long as you need to complete 5 rounds.

Workout equipment needed: Jump rope

Workout equipment alternatives: No jump rope? Use your imagination! Make sure you’re moving your arms/wrists like you would if you were actually holding a jump rope.

Wall ball shots and squats

Do as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) of the following in 12 minutes (if you need to rest, rest for only 1 minute at a time):

20 wall-ball shots

20 single-leg squats

How-to: For wall-ball shots, toss a medicine ball (or a filled backpack) against a sturdy wall (keep that security deposit, folks). Aim for a spot higher up on the wall, where you still feel capable of catching the ball when it comes back down (we don’t need any black eyes or bloody noses!).

Single-leg squats are just like normal squats, but instead you do only one leg at a time. Feel the burn!

Time it takes: 12 minutes

Workout equipment needed: Medicine ball

Workout equipment alternatives: Filled backpack

Candy

To start the pull-ups, you can use a pull-up bar, a sturdy tree branch, or a door. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, open your door and wrap a towel around the handles. From there, you can do a pull-up using your body weight. Follow with push-ups and squats and repeat.

If you’re still wondering, no, this workout unfortunately doesn’t involve candy. Candy is actually a Girl WOD (workout of the day).

“The Girl workouts are notoriously challenging,” says Bloomquist. “Greg Glassman, the founder and CEO of CrossFit, says that ‘anything that can leave you flat on your back thinking “What just happened to me?” deserves a female name.’”

Time it takes: 5 rounds for time

Workout equipment needed: Pull-up bar; dumbbells for squats if you want more than body weight

How-to: To do burpees, jump up, and then put your hands on the floor and jump your feet back into a plank position. Jump your feet forward again and repeat.

For weighted sit-ups, hold a kettlebell or dumbbell in front of your chest while doing sit-ups.

For kettlebell/dumbbell swings, stand in a semi-squatted position with a straight back and swing the weight between your legs. Make sure you use your legs and core, not your arms and back, to power the swings.

Research suggests that both HIIT and more moderate exercise can have beneficial effects on body composition — but HIIT takes less time. HIIT pushes your muscles and heart to work hard for a short time, which in turn burns calories at a higher rate (even after you’ve stopped exercising!).

Thrust and run

How-to: You’re welcome for more thrusters! To complete this move, do a front squat and an overhead press with dumbbells.

You’ll follow up your first 21 thrusters with a 400-meter run (that’s about one-quarter of a mile). In the next round, do 18 thrusters and a run, and in the final round, 15 thrusters and a run. You’ll break a sweat in no time.

Time it takes: For time

Workout equipment needed: Dumbbells or a barbell

Workout equipment alternatives: Canned goods, bags of beans or rice, or a broom

Then, for snatches, stand with a dumbbell or weighted object between your feet. Alternating between your right and left arm, grab the weight and hoist it up over your head, ensuring that your knees stay soft so they don’t lock up.

Bloomquist notes that standing up fast is important during snatches, as is keeping the dumbbell close to your body for shoulder safety.

The SYLB workouts are actually part of a fundraiser CrossFit is doing to help local gyms affected by the COVID-19 shutdowns. Work out and do some good!

SYLB workout 3

How-to: Ah, more thrusters… but this time they’re one-handed (does that make it better?).

A new move in this WOD is step-ups — they really get those quads and hamstrings working.

Step up onto a 1- to 2-foot box with your right foot, focusing on engaging your right glute and right hamstrings (not just pushing off with your left foot). Maintain control as you step back down. Repeat on the other side.

The odds that you have a large, stable box in your home probably aren’t very good, so try this move on a chair or even your staircase!

Time it takes: For time

Workout equipment needed: Dumbbells and a box

Workout equipment alternatives: Canned goods, bags of rice or beans, or filled water bottles for deadlifts and thrusters; chair or staircase for step-ups

How-to: Another Tabata/HIIT exercise to get those calories burning! To do a squat clean, pull the barbell from the floor and heave it up to your shoulders, tucked under your chin. In the same motion, lower into a full front squat. Then stand back up.

A power snatch is a similar move, except you hold the bar at hip level and then, in one swift move, lift it up and over your head.

Time it takes: 15-minute running clock

Workout equipment needed: Barbell and pull-up bar

Workout equipment alternatives: Broom or mop in place of a barbell; door/towel or tree branch for pull-ups

Angie

How-to: Another Girl WOD with a lot of zeros, this workout is especially challenging! The goal is to complete it as fast as possible. Next time you do it, aim for a shorter time (if you’re up to a next time, that is).

Note from Bloomquist: You can partition the reps any way you’d like. For example, you could do 10 rounds of 10 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, etc., to break it up or do them all in a row and move on to the next movement.

Time it takes: For time

Workout equipment needed: Pull-up bar, dumbbells if you’d like to add weight to the squats

Workout equipment alternatives: Tree branch or door/towel for pull-ups; canned goods, bags of rice or beans, or filled water bottles for squats